The Stanford men’s rowing squad finished third at the Head of the Charles Regatta Sunday in Boston and, for the second consecutive year, was the highest placing collegiate team in the field.

In its 2013-14 season debut, the Card used a dramatic, late-race surge to best the Washington Huskies by nearly four seconds. The lineup, anchored by one of the nation’s best young rowers, senior Austin Hack, was in seventh after the first of four time splits and in sixth after the third split. Stanford then turned on the jets, recording the second-fastest final split to earn a third-place overall finish behind professional teams Camp Randall Rowing Club and USRowing.“Finishing strong was something we were talking about before the race,” Hack told gostanford.com. “We really wanted to empty our tanks at the end, and being able to do that helped us out for our finish.”

The Card next competes at the Head of the American competition Oct. 28 in Gold River, Calif.